A Thing to Boast About
A Thing to Boast About is the 8th short story which appeared in the anthology , published in May 1950. The story was first published in the Canadian magazine Maclean's on 1 August 1942. The events in the story take place mainly in South Sudan and sometime just before the Second World War or in the early years of the war. The story is of interest because it features a character by the name of "Angus Mackail", probably the same person who would later become a flight commander in Biggles' 666 Squadron. Synopsis Flying Officer Tony Markham has had to force land in a desert. This is very worrying for his batman, Private Mazrak Mahomet, because Tony had been carrying his crocodile skin suitcase which Mahomet was extremely proud of. Plot (may contain spoilers - click on expand to read) Private Mazrak Mahomet, the Askari batman of Flying Officer Tony Higgins, was extremely proud of his officer's crocodile skin suitcase. He spent most of his duty time polishing it and most of his spare time admiring it. Thus he was worried to hear that Tony was overdue with the suitcase in his cockpit. Tony had taken off from his station, the frontier post of Gazrah Wadi in the south of Sudan for M'bayu in Kenya. On his way back, he had encountered a sandstorm which choked his engine. He had no choice but to force land in a rock strewn desert area and had damaged his Gladiator in the process. On being notified of this, Flight Lieutenant Angus Mackail, in temporary charge of the station flew to look for him. Angus found Tony but was unable to land so he signaled him to clear a runway. Once that had been done, Angus intended to return in a Moth to pick him up. But the adjutant was cautious about the risks involved. What if he damaged the Moth and they had to walk back? It would be a trek of some two hundred miles with no water supply and over unknown ground. So Angus decides to take along an Askari who knew the locality to act as guide. Mazrak volunteers to go so Angus told him to fetch a can of water and get on board the Moth. Angus and Mazrak land and pick up Tony. There was no space for Mazrak so he stay by the wreck of Tony's aircraft. Angus would come back for him later. However, after reaching Gazrah Wadi, another sandstorm hit which grounded all flights for the next three days. On the fourth day, Tony took off to look for Mazrak but was unable to find him. Angus made another flight with similarly disappointing results. After a while they had to give up. Four days later the sentries at the station saw a man staggering back. It's Mazrak! And he still carried the crocodile skin suitcase! Mazrak collapses after entering the gates. He was severely dehydrated and on the point of death. Tony knelt beside him and told him the suitcase was now his. Mazrak mutters the Islamic basmala and died. It turned out that the can of water Mazrak had carried had a leak. As for the suitcase, it was still fully loaded. Mazrak had never thought to look at the contents. There were 12 full bottles of beer! Mazrak was buried in the station and the suitcase placed on top of the grave. Nobody touched the suitcase as it was, for Mazrak, "a thing to be remembered, to boast of in the menzils between Aden and Khartoum." Characters *Angus Mackail *Private Mazrak Mahomet *Flying Officer Tony Markham *Bill Higgins Aircraft *Gloster Gladiator *De Havilland Gipsy Moth Ships Places Visited *Gazrah Wadi, Sudan *M'Bayu, Kenya Research Notes Publication History *Maclean's, 1 August 1942 *Collected in Short Sorties, Latimer House, 1950 *Collected in Short Sorties and Sky Fever, Norman Wright, 2006 References External Links *Archive of Maclean's 1 August 1942 Category:Short stories Category:Adult short stories Category:Other short stories